WOODHAVEN , Mich., (June 28,1999) Ron Heethuise of Wayland, Michigan, took first place, $3224, plus 50 CITGO Challenge Points for winning the Red Man Michigan Division qualifier held Sunday on the Detroit River.
Heethuise brought in a five bass limit weighing 19 pounds to top a field of 207 anglers competing for $11,867.50. Heethuise fished the South Shore of Lake St. Clair using tube lures and flukes in 8-11 feet of water to catch his fish. He was using 10-pound-test line. Second place and $1612 went to David Lauer of South Bend, Indiana, for five bass weighing 18-15. He used tube lures in the Detroit River.
Rounding out the top positions were: (3) Ed Rogers, Grand Rapids, MI, five bass, 17-10, $946; (4) Don Rank, Elkhart, IN, five bass, 17-7, $606; (5) Kevin Long, Bloomfield Hills, MI, five bass, 16-15, $511.33. Brian Grigg of Madison Heights, MI, won the Abu Garcia Big Bass Award of $1,000 for a 5 pound, 13 ounce bass. Winner Ron Heetuise of Wayland, MI, is leading the Michigan Division’s Ranger Millennium big bass race for the year with a bass weighing 5 pounds, 2 ounces. The Ranger boat owner who catches the largest bass in each Red Man division over the course of the season, will qualify to enter the Ranger M1 millennium tournament.
Heetuise also won the berkley Powerbait award a package of baits valued at $325 for the highest weight caught on Powerbait or Frenzy lures with 19 pounds. At the completion of the six Red Man qualifying events, the top 30 anglers, determined on a basis of pounds and points, will move onto Regional Championship competition. There they will compete against the top 30 fishermen from three other divisions for a Dream Rig consisting of a Chevy truck and a full-rigged Ranger bass boat powered by an Evinrude or Johnson outboard (only two divisions compete in the Western Regional for a fully-rigged Ranger bass boat) and a spot in the Red Man All-American in Hot Springs, Arkansas, May 8-13, 2000, where the winner will receive $100,000. The rookie advancing farthest along the Red Man Trail will win the Old Milwaukee NA Rookie-of-the-Year Award.
The rookie advancing farthest along the Red Man Trail will win the Old Milwaukee NA Rookie-of-the-Year Award. All Red Man tournaments are catch and release events. Operation Bass historically maintains a 98 percent live release rate throughout the tournament season.
Sponsors of the 1999 Red Man Tournament Trail include: Evinrude Outboards, Evinrude Electrics, CITGO Petroleum, Ranger Boats, Humminbird Fishfinders, stren Fishing Lines, Abu Garcia Rods and Reels, Chevy Trucks, ENERGIZER Marine Batteries, Old Milwaukee NA, Black & Decker, David Seeds, Coleman Products, Land O Lakes, BC Powder, Eveready, Wheaties, Chex Mix, Hamburger Helper, Wrangler, US Bank-VISA, Powerbait, and Frenzy.